coffee maker

i've managed, for the most part, to eliminate coffee. this weekend some friends are staying with us so i sauntered up to Peet's to get some. being a weekend morning the line was out the door for drinks, but the bag o' beans line was only two deep so I jumped in. there was an over 50 gentleman grinding the beans having an extended conversation with his customer. this was inhibiting him from operating expediently. the lady in front of me started complaining, talking about how "slow" the old guy was and said "don't talk to him or he'll stop everything to chat with you." i mentioned that he was a little older than my parents, and as a retired school teacher how it was difficult for even my dad to find employment at that age. i said i was concerned about how corporations loved to have my parent's generation as menial, low paid employees because they were reliable and had a strong work ethic. she said, "yes, but they do have a tough time with the job, don't they." later i thought that the over 50 generation is more craftsman than automaton... they would rather conversate with a customer because they connect with the human element.